HOMOPHONE GAME: IMPROVING PRONUNCIATION SKILLS OF GRADE 6

STUDENTS IN OSMEÑA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

An Action Research

Presented to the Faculty of Teacher Education Department

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Elementary Education – Generalist

RICHARD R. BALLOS

DIMPLE C. TORRES

DECEMBER 2023
 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

The fundamental ability required for effective interpersonal communication is

language (Rais, 2019). We can communicate our thoughts and emotions through language,

but mispronounced words might have different meanings. Pronunciation has proven to be a

significant difficulty, nevertheless, particularly for students in non-English speaking nations

who find it boring and lethargic to learn (Octaberlina, 2021). According to Ablero (2023),

students who are at frustration-level in pronunciation increase every year. Seom (2021) stated

that a learner’s mother tongue, age, amount of exposure, phonetic skill, attitude, and

motivation have an impact on how well students pronounce words. Thus, students remain

docile in the classroom because they fear pronouncing phrases incorrectly where it lowers

their achievement in learning English (Garcia, 2020).

Similar to this, some Bengali-medium schools in Bangladesh specifically in Sylhet

suburban regions such as Moulvibazar, Kulaura, Komolganj, etc., teaching and mastering

pronunciation is still frequently neglected and is not given significant weight in the schools

(Pratiwi, 2019). Students cannot achieve the proper pronunciation due to the influence of

their local (Sylheti) accent or it can be the teachers’ local accent influence that makes the

students adapts the wrong pronunciation. As such, students struggle greatly with pronouncing

words in English (Yulianti, 2022). Same major obstacle faced in places like China where

Chinese students frequently being misunderstood by native speakers or English language

learners from other countries (Darcy, 2018). These individuals find it particularly challenging

to communicate verbally because they lack proficiency in the spoken form of the language.

Even after years of study and several passing English proficiency tests, many Chinese
students still struggle with successful spoken English communication which negatively

impacts their social interactions and self-esteem (Fang, 2022).

In Philippine context, Filipino speakers have what we call “Filipino Accent”, which

can be difficult to understand by some native English speakers. One of the most glaring

mistakes made by Filipino students is mixing up or switching out many vowels and

consonants (Pachina, 2019).

In the local setting, specifically in Osmeña Elementary School located in Compostela,

Davao De Oro, the researchers have observed that most teachers have been struggling to

produce students that are confident to the way they speak and sound accurate with the words

being spoken. Given that the said municipality is composed of ethnic tribes such as Mansaka,

Mandaya, Manobo, Mangguangan, Dibabawon, Aeta, Kamayo, Dabaweño and Kalagan

which has various distinct dialects that turns to be a contributing factor of difficulty to

pronunciation of students. They are having strain interpreting words’ meaning and confused

in pronouncing such word. Additionally, researchers concluded that students only know how

to spell the word based on their basic knowledge but still low in pronouncing it correctly.

Thus, to address this academic concern, researchers seeks for an effective learning

instruction that will improve the students’ interest in learning English, specifically in

pronunciation learning (Chairunnisa, 2023). Hamelia (2021) argued that one of the media that

is very popular to students is the game. In pronunciation class there are so many games that

can be used by teachers in teaching pronunciation skills; one of these is Homophone game.

Homophone is a part of Homonyms. Homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as

another word but has a different meaning or spelling, or both. Although many studies have

examined various interventions to improve English pronunciation skills, there is a lack of

research on how Homophone Game develops accurate utterance to vowels and consonants

with short and long sounds. In accordance to Senate Resolution No. 622, there is an urgency
of addressing issues and gaps in enhancing English proficiency. Teaching and learning

English language is now paving a relevant road towards Philippine education system and for

this reason, researchers seeks to determine the effectiveness of Homophone Game towards

improving students pronunciation skills specifically to words spelled similarly but

pronounced differently and words spelled differently but pronounced similarly as according

to Salim (2020), this strategy improve students’ pronunciation while being relaxed and fun,

makes certain lessons easy to understand, can provide motivation for the students, and are not

stressful.

Review of Related Literature

This chapter entailed the outline of published literature conducted by other

researchers related to this study about the use of Homophone Game to improve the

pronunciation skills of students.

Homophone Game

In semantic analysis, a word that has the same pronunciation but a different

meaning is called a homophone. One kind of homophone is a homonym. Examples

of homophony are the pairs rode/rowed and threw/through. A homophonic clash,

often known as a "conflict," is said to have happened when there is uncertainty due

to this identity (Rahmadhani, 2021). Furthermore, homophonous forms are

phonemically identical. For instance, pear, pare, and pair in English are

homophonous and can therefore be referred to as homophones. Determining

whether forms are "distinctly different" or "related" in meaning is a complex task

that lacks straightforward methods (Istiqomah, 2023). Gradients of meaning

difference are also difficult to establish. However, some forms seem to be clearly

related, as mentioned by Minh (2022). One such example is the word run in the
expression they run and their run. Even in the expression "the run in her stocking,"

the homophone "run" seems to have a connotation that is connected to the previous

instances of it. In a similar vein, it seems that the fish and to fish have a fish that is

quite comparable. However, there doesn't seem to be any significant association

between pare and pear in the phrases to pare and the pear. We can explain these

parallels and contrasts by pointing out that, while the word pare is not typically

linked with pears, fish in the phrases to fish and the fish specifies a traditionally

associated feature of a single operation (Dautriche et al., 2018).

However, Rais (2019) noted that the definitions of homophones,

homographs, and homonyms are somewhat ambiguous and controversial.

Homophones are words with similar sounds and looks but different meanings.

Like in "can you pass that can, Mike?" or "may I go sailing with you in May?

Saying these words quickly makes them exciting.

Certain words are homophones if they have the same sound but a different

spelling, similar to "praise," "preys," and "prays." Even though homophones sound

alike, their meanings are not similar, like to "a flea can flee" or "a bee can be."

Conversely, homographs are words with two distinct meanings but the same

spelling. Lexemes, or words with the same spelling but distinct meanings, are

referred to by this term in semantic analysis. A kind of homophone is a homograph

─ examples of homographs are wind (sc. blowing) and wind (sc. a clock).

Conversely, homophones are any two or more words that have the same

pronunciation but distinct spellings. Pray, praise, and pray, for instance.

(Novitaningtyas, 2018).

Homophone games are a logical extension of homophone dictation,

according to Pratiwi (2019), and they can be utilized to assist students in practicing
and remembering homophones. Additionally, this game helps draw attention to

some sounds that could be especially challenging for kids to hear and write.

According to Yulianti (2022), there are a few steps involved in implementing

homophone games. First, the teacher will explain to the students that homophones

are two or more words that have the same sound but a distinct meaning before

assigning the games. Students were placed into groups of three or four people. Each

group has a leader who selects the first participant from among their fellow

members. The first player or pupils will be asked to stand on a chair facing the

boar, which is approximately three or four meters away. The teacher will then

create a blank sentence and select homophones. The first player to arrive at the

board will pronounce the answer to the question. Until every member has an

opportunity, the first player will be replaced by the second player. The group that

can provide a true response to the question will receive a point from the teacher.

e.g. : Fill in the blank with the correct word.

b c

. . rode . two . to

1. I …….an elephant at the circus last night.

2. Mom, may I go ….. the market.

3. Sue was lost and didn‟t know which….. to take

4. I have…..pens.
 For the purpose of explaining why homophones can function as both a word and a

sentence, two theories are put forth. One hypothesis holds that homophones have a common

lexical-phonological representation, but they also often have different grammatical features

(e.g., sun/son, the watch/to watch, him/hymn) due to their diverse semantic and lexical-

grammatical representations (Li & Yip, n.d.).

As claimed by Dautriche et al. (2018): (a) learning homophones is easier than

previously thought, at least when the meanings of the same phonological form are sufficiently

distinct; and (b) this advantage of learnability extends to the lexicon's overall structure,

meaning that the homophone types that are present in languages have characteristics that

enable toddlers to acquire them and keep them in languages. However, the context-

dependency hypothesis states that it is feasible to acquire the contextually appropriate

meaning of a homophone early on if the antecedent context strongly supports one of the

meanings (Li & Yip, n.d.). It is hoped that this study would raise students' awareness,

highlight the importance of learning a new language, and motivate them to utilize the

recommended strategies to resolve their problems (Azfal, 2019)

Kinds of Homophones

Tasks vary in terms of homophone kinds, tasks, linguistic origins of participants,

comparable task techniques, and degrees of control over other lexical aspects (Barr et al,

2022). While previous research on mnemonic devices has mainly concentrated on

correlations between L1 and L2 forms, studies on homophones and homonyms have

primarily focused on language play in educational contexts. (Learning and Teaching

Vocabulary, 2018). Furthermore, according to Syarifuddin Basyar et al. (2021) the term

"homophone" can also be used to describe units that are either longer or shorter than words,

such as phrases, letters, or groups of letters that have the same sound as another phrase, letter,
or group of letters. The various homophone types are described below:

a) Heterographic Homophones

When two words that sound similar but have different pronunciations are written

together, heterographic homophones like (whether/weather, then/than, their/there) are

created. In spoken language, heterosyllabic homophones can lessen unclear meanings. For

people who speak, read, and write in English, the usage of heterographic homophones can

reduce ambiguity and confusion (Homer, 2021).

b) Homographic Homophones

Homographic homophones continue the semantic lexical ambiguity, which

makes it difficult for readers to understand the intended meaning. A writing system

that maintains lexical distinctiveness would not tolerate homographic homophones

or the semantic lexical ambiguity they cause (Homer, 2021).

Pronunciaton Skills

One crucial component of English is pronunciation. Every tone, accent, and intonation

used in spoken communication can have meaning. When speaking English, we must

pronounce words carefully because if we pronounce them incorrectly, the audience may not

comprehend what we are saying (Ablero, 2023). According to Sase & Alsadae (2022),

consonants are created using a variety of methods that involve stopping, limiting, or rerouting

the airflow. While Beňuš (2021) stated that vowels change the overall condition of the mouth

as they are enunciated, which happens when a voiced wind stream is constructed using the

tongue and lips.

According to Chairunnisa (2023), pronunciation can be defined in a number of ways,

but in essence, it refers to the way a word is said. Nevertheless, many English words are not

pronounced exactly as they are spelled for a number of reasons, and certain sounds can be
produced by combining multiple letter combinations. Because so many students struggle with

pronouncing English vowels correctly, pronunciation instruction often receives the least

attention in English language schools.

However, according to Minh (2022), speakers can most easily be recognized as non-

native speakers based on their pronunciation. We do not need to pronounce words like native

speakers do because it can recognize us as non-native speakers. But when we speak, we must

at least be understandable. She also mentioned that teachers should help children who

struggle with speaking by helping them pronounce words correctly.

Pachina (2019) contends that pronunciation is never a goal unto itself but rather a tool

for negotiating meaning within a particular sociocultural and interpersonal environment.

Sentences that are produced will have meanings that vary depending on how they are

pronounced. It is true that pupils need to learn proper pronunciation.

However, Fang (2022) asserts that pronunciation is the application of a sound system

during speaking and listening. Pronunciation is simply considered here as an act that takes

place when speaking and listening. The act or style of pronouncing words, or utterance of

speech, is called pronunciation. To put it another way, it might also be described as a manner

of expressing a term, particularly one that is recognized or widely understood.

On the other hand, Manawia (2019) provided an alternative definition of

pronunciation as the act of producing speech sounds in order to communicate. English

pronunciation also has issues. For instance, a native English speaker frequently struggles with

the spelling system of the language when writing; words with well-known pronunciation and

meaning must be written down, which makes native speakers acutely aware of the

complexities of the English spelling system. We have hardly ever tried writing an unknown

term down. How to pronounce a word that is unfamiliar to them in a written document is

typically the main challenge faced by non-native English language learners. According to
Hasnan (2022), there are many regularities and irregularities in the English spelling system,

which can be problematic for non-native learners and English-speaking children who are

learning to write their language.

In general observation, those who begin learning English after high school are most

likely to experience significant challenges learning understandable pronunciation, with the

level of difficulty rising noticeably with age (Pardede, 2019). However, in order to produce

English sounds correctly and accurately—that is, loose words, phrases, sentences, and

English speech or discourse—one must first comprehend the English sound system, or

phonology. (Raysal Nur Azi and Rosa Triwardani, 2022).

There are two types of information needed to pronounce words correctly in English.

One type of knowledge is intuitive knowledge, often known as linguistic feeling. There is a

clear reason why learning pronunciation in school is important: when students get better at

pronouncing words correctly, they can surely construct sentences and talk in public with ease.

Articulation knowledge serves as the foundation for the other type of information, which is

conceptual. Understanding articulation is essential to using the language in speaking,

listening, writing, and reading (Akhatovna, 2022).

According to the Dictionary of American English Pronunciation, learning how to

pronounce and spell words in English can be particularly challenging because certain sounds

in the language can have many spellings (Elumalai, 2021). As seen by the following words:

Caesar, be, sea, bee, etc., the phonetic sign for the sound in the word "eat" can be spelled

thirteen different ways. Additionally, Oxford University Press stated that pronunciation is the

act or style of pronouncing an articulate speech, while linguistic pronunciation refers to the

way a language or specific word or sound is uttered. Pronunciation also refers to the way a

word or language is uttered. This could be defined as "correct pronunciation," which refers to

generally accepted phoneme sequences used while pronouncing a word or language in a

particular dialect, or it could just be the way a certain person pronounces a word or language

(Pratiwi, 2019).

To progress in a foreign language, learners need to be able to understand what they

read and hear. English language learners frequently struggle with understanding words,

sentences, stress, and intonation when it comes to pronunciation. In addition, students must

comprehend linked speech in order to communicate fluently, paying close attention to

spelling and tone (Rosa Triwardani dan Raysal Nur Azi, 2022).

Parts of Pronunciation

According to Pratiwi (2019), there are three components that we have to

know in pronunciation, such as: Sound, Stress, and Intonation.

I. Sound

Sounds are what you can hear. A word's sound is its distinct phonemes, or

sounds. Beat, for instance, is equal to /b + I; + t/, where I; stands for the sound "ee."

Since spoken sound and written letters do not correspond exactly, sound is

represented here by a phonetic symbol. It is possible for two spellings to have the

same sound. A single phoneme can alter the meaning of a word. For instance,

altering /i;/ to /I/ results in the word "bit" rather than "beat" (Osorio et al, 2018).

Furthermore, Garcia (2020) asserts that voiced sounds are produced when the vocal

cords vibrate and are classified as vowels or consonants in language. Vocal chords

that are not vibrating produce a silent sound. Consonants can be voiceless or

voiced, but vowels are always voiced. Additionally, depending on which sound

comes before or after the sound, all vowels and some consonants can be held for a

shorter or longer duration of sound.

a) Vowels
 Vowel sounds are those in which the airflow from the larynx to the lips is unhindered,

according to Peter (2019). Vowels are described as speaking sounds made with the mouth

open and the tongue not touching the roof of the mouth by the Oxford Dictionary. The sound

we make in this instance is a vowel, and the tongue does not come into contact with the lips

or other elements of the mouth. The distance between lips, the form of the lips, and the

duration of the sound all varies throughout vowel sounds.

Table 1. English Vowel Sounds

 No Symbol Example

1 /iy/ East, Receive, Believe, Sweet

2 /I/ Hit, Lip, Been

3 /ey/ Pay, Wait, Break

4 /Ɛ/ End, Men, Says, Said

5 /æ/ Am, Bad, Bat

6 /uw/ Too, Shoe, True

7 /Ʊ/ Cook, Wolf, Would, Put

8 /ow/ Oh, Open, Soul

9 /ə/ Us, Umpire, Sunday, Blood

10 /ɔ/ Also, awful, Pause

11 /aw/ Out, Cloud, House, Town, How

12 /a/ Calm, Large, Ma

13 /u/ Woman, look, book

14 /iuw/ Cute , View, Beauty

15 /oiy/ Boil, Soil, Boy

16 /aiy/ My, Fly, Guy

b) Consonants

According to Hamelia (2021), a consonant is a speaking sound produced by (partially)

holding one's breath with the tongue, lips, etc. The way air is released, the location of the

tongue, lips, and teeth, as well as the presence or lack of voice, all influence it.

Table 2. English Consonant Sound

No Symbol Example

1 /p/ Pay, pat, praise

2 /b/ Cabs , bag, sobbed

3 /t/ Ten, tip , tap

4 /d/ Day , dad, tide

5 /k/ Clean , ask , question

6 /g/ Game, ghost, bag

7 /f/ Trophy, tough, four

8 /v/ Saves, of, ever

9 /ch/ Catch , watching , lunch

10 /j/ Jam , just , edges

11 /sh/ Shame, ocean, sugar

12 /zh/ Vision

13 /s/ Bosses, cell, fast

14 /z/ Easy , cousin, lazy

15 /l/ Shelf, animal , place

16 /r/ Pair , mirror, more

17 /m/ Camp, games, comb

18 /n/ Money, envy, plains

19 /ŋ/ Singer, tongue, strong

20 /ɵ/ Teeth, month, deaths

21 /h/ Who, alcohol, hill

22 /w/ One, sweet, why

23 /y/ Year, yellow

II. Stress

Syllables in English words can be separated. Vowel sounds in speech

constitute a single syllable. Vowels alone, vowels before and after consonants, and

vowels in between consonants can all be considered syllables. Furthermore, stress

lends a word's syllable or word itself a louder, longer sound. Stress comprises two

components: sentence stress and word stress (Abdullah, 2021).

a) Word Stress

Word stress is the emphasis we place while saying a word on a particular

syllable. Because we don't often pronounce every syllable in English words equally,

a word can have one or more stressed or unstressed syllables. In addition to being

longer or uttered at a higher or lower pitch, stressed syllables are louder than non-

stressed ones, suggesting that air leaves our lungs with greater power

(Chairunnisa, 2022).

Unstressed syllables are ones that are not as clearly defined and are not

pronounced with as much emphasis as the other syllables. Word stress is the

emphasis placed on a particular syllable inside a word. consists of two components:

main and secondary stress. The sound of primary stress words is larger, longer, and

louder. The primary word's denotation is represented by the secondary stress word,

which sounds large and long but has a different pitch. There are multiple "strong

syllables" in some longer words, but one sticks out more than the other (Jember et

al, 2017).

Stress is typically indicated in phonemic charts and transcriptions by using

the symbol // before the stressed syllable. For example, in words with secondary

emphasis like "everyone," we put the sign // before the relevant syllable

(/ev.ribd.i/). The consistency of word stress is really high. Because of this, we often

follow the typical word stress pattern, making the stressed syllable longer, louder,

or higher-pitched, even when we want to emphasize a particular word over all

others in an utterance (Barr et al., 2022).

Students must comprehend how the term is often spoken because word

stress errors can potentially cause more intelligibility issues than other

pronunciation faults due to their relative regularity. Thankfully, this same

consistency helps kids recognize words with little effort and also makes teaching

stress patterns very easy (Trott & Bergen, 2020).

b) Sentence Stress

Sentence stress or prominence is the term used to describe the emphasis that

certain words have in spoken language. Content words, such as main verbs,

adjectives, and nouns, are more likely to have their stronger syllables stressed than

function words, such as pronouns, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs. The English

language has a unique rhythm due to sentence emphasis, whereby not every

syllable is given equal weight. For this reason, rather than calling English a

syllable-timed language—a language where every syllable has equal weight—we

frequently refer to it as a stress-timed language (Afzal, 2019).

One significant implication is that we frequently "under-pronounce"

function words in order to maintain rhythm, using their weak forms (e.g., the

preposition to is often pronounced /tʊ/ or /tə/, rather than the strong form /tu/ in this

context). Sentence stress is typically present in sentences that include substantial

information, although it can vary greatly depending on the exact meaning the

speaker is attempting to convey (Chairunnisa, 2022).

III. Intonation
 Every language has intonation variations that correspond to the rise and fall

of the voice during speech. Both speaker attitude and grammatical meaning can be

inferred from inflection. By raising and lowering his intonation, a speaker might

indicate to the audience whether he is making a statement or posing a question

(Syarifuddin Basyar et al., 2021). The rise and fall of a speaker's voice is a

sophisticated system of meaning communication known as intonation

(Chairunnisa, 2022).

The rising and falling of a speaker's voice is a complicated system of

meaning communication known as intonation. English people use it to express a

variety of ideas. For instance, grammatical meaning, various forms of questions and

assertions, the status of information (primary or secondary), our attitude (completed

or unfinished), our doubts or concerns, our feelings (confident, pleased,

enthusiastic, unhappy, bored, and so forth), and so forth (Vocabulary Learning and

Instruction, 2018).

According to Agustiana (2021), there are six principal factors affecting

pronunciation learning as mentioned by Joanne Kenworthy, and these are as

follows:

1. The Native Language. We have already looked in some detail at the influence of the

first language on the sound system of a sound.

2. The Age. This factor alludes to the widely held notion that age and the ability to

pronounce a second language are strongly correlated. Like many other aspects of

teaching languages, the subject of whether pronunciation competence has an age-

related limit has been well studied. The results are quite inconsistent, and it is too

soon to conclude that pronouncing ability and age are simply and directly related.

3. Amount of Exposure. This component presents issues once more, not the least of
 which being the qualifying "amount of exposure." One contributing aspect is that

while many residents of the target country may not hear much of the target

language, others who live in their home country may. It is not a prerequisite for the

growth of pronunciation.

4. Phonetic Ability. This factor, also known as "phone coding ability" or "auditory

discrimination ability," refers to a person's "ear" for a foreign language. Tests have

been developed to measure it, and there is some evidence that while poor

discrimination is not affected by discrimination drills, good discrimination is.

5. Attitude and Identity. The degree to which a learner aspires to identify with the

target culture has also been connected to their capacity for adapting to and

developing a foreign pronunciation.

6. Motivation and Concern for Good Pronunciation. This final factors is probably also

related to personality, some students seem unconcerned about making mistake.

Researchers concluded that teaching English, especially pronunciation, can

be tough given these factors affecting pronunciation learning. Since game is one of

the exciting techniques usable in teaching learning process as it minimizes the risk

of students’ boredom, the researcher utilize homophone game as a technique aiming

to improve pronunciation skills to Grade 6 students of Osmeña Elementary School.

Most of these students’ test results shows that they have low proficiency in

pronunciation. Thus, a planned and organized intervention program can assist at-

risk students as well as helping teacher seeks for effective strategy to harnessing

pronunciation skills specifically to words spelled similarly but pronounced

differently and words spelled differently but pronounced similarly. Researchers

believed that utilization of Homophone Game in teaching and learning process

would help in building the foundation for their academic success, ensuring that
 proper utterance to words is developed, build self-confidence, and gain competence

in speaking in front of class.

Conceptual Framework

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the Study

The figure shows conceptual framework of the study, wherein it shows the

Pre-Intervention phase, Intervention phase, and Post Intervention phase. This refers to

the visual representation of all the process components. Every piece of information

and material needed for the process is shown in the diagram; together with all of the

process’ precise specifics and a list of all the products is produced (Canonizado,

2021).

The Pre-Intervention phase of this research is: (1) Environmental scanning is a crucial

and continuing step in the planning process, as defined by Wayne (2023), wherein data on
outside events and trends is continuously gathered and taken into account. This sub-phase is

the conduct and observation with the level of students’ pronunciation skills by the use of

adapted and modified study tool, this study tool will serve as the pre-test of the research.

Each respondent will answer the same pre-test questionnaire; (2) Identifying and Unpacking

of Competency in Focus – on this sub-phase, is the selection of suitable competency aligned

with the intervention of the study. Cahapay (2020) explains that this has to do with presenting

standard outcomes in a way that makes them easier to incorporate into unit and daily lesson

plans. By using this process, instructors can focus on the most important aspects of

instruction. Planning should just require the unpacked standard; (3) Lesson Planning, this will

serve as a guide for what the students must learn and how it will be accomplished in the

classroom. The learning objectives must be determined prior to class planning. Next, create

learning activities that are appropriate for the students and devise methods for getting

feedback on their progress (Milkova, 2021); (4) Instrumentation – in this sub-phase, the

lesson plan will undergo validation from the panel of experts. After the validation, the (5)

Pilot testing will be administered to test its reliability.

The Intervention Phase will be the implementation of Lesson Plan. In the Post

Intervention Phase, same instrument from the pre-test will be administered as posttest.

Afterwards, the results will be handed to the statistician for the tabulation and calculation of

the data. The researchers analyze the data gathering.

Research Questions

This study aimed to determine the level of the respondents’ pronunciation skills and

to identify the effectiveness of Homophone Game in drawing implications for the

development of students’ knowledge to proper utterance of words of which meaning can be

understood. The following questions are derived from the study problem:
1. What is the level of students’ pronunciation skills before the implementation of the

intervention?

2. What is the level of students’ pronunciation skills after the implementation of the

intervention?

3. Is there a significant difference between the pronunciation skills of Grade 6 students of

Osmeña Elementary School before and after the intervention?

4. What implications can be drawn from the use of Homophone Game in reinforcing

pronunciation skills to the teachers and students?

Null Hypothesis

The following null hypotheses will be tested at level of significance α = 0.05:

H₀: There is no significant difference in the level of pronunciation skills before and

after the implementation of the Homophone Game.

Significance of the Study

This study will focus on elucidating the effectiveness of reinforcing

pronunciation skills by incorporating Homophone Game in Grade 6 students at

Osmeña Elementary School. Wherein, this study may benefit those involved in

teaching-learning process which includes these following individuals:

Main Benefactors. The students will be able to know and become more aware that

incorporating Homophone Game would be advantageous upon reinforcing their

pronunciation skills.

2nd Benefactors. This study will help the teachers to understand the problem of

pronunciation skills and coping mechanisms of their students. This will provide best

techniques and effective strategies to enhance students pronunciation skills.

 Administrators. This study will serve as reference for the school administrators on

crafting best programs in regards to the pronunciation skills of the students. Through that, the

problem of making sound of words directed to its meaning of the students will be eradicated.

Future Researchers. The information as well as the insights that will be

gained from the study will serve as a guide for other researchers. This study will allow

them to construct a better conceptual framework relevant to the issue. The results of

this study will also allow them to take a look at the bigger picture of the topic. Aside

from that, they can expand this study with the same area of preference.

Department of Education. This study will provide relevant information to

the Local and National personnel of education in line with memorandums released to

schools regarding the enhancement or the learners’ ability in the acquisition of

English language.

Scope and Delimitation

The respondents must be bona fide students of Osmeña Elementary School in

the school year 2023-2024. Thus, the respondents can be any of the following; age,

religion, residence, caste/tribe, and economic status, but determined by the scope of

the study, and must agree to the informed consent to participate. The respondents of

this study will be the Grade 6 students from section Rizal with the total population of

28; 18 males and 10 females who are currently enrolled in the School Year 2022-2023

at Osmeña Elementary School.

The study was intended only for Grade 6 Rizal students and excluded Grades

1 – 5 and all sections due to incapacity to participate in the study. The researchers will

use the purposive sampling to carefully choose the included pupils who will serve as

the official respondents due to low level of pronunciation skills. However, this study
 limits to words with Homographic and Heterographic Homophones. Furthermore, this

study could guarantee that whatever the response of Grade 6 students will be purely

confidential.

Chapter II

METHODOLOGY

This chapter comprises the methods used in acquiring the data and information

found in the study. It encompasses the Research Design, Sampling, Research Locale

used in analyzing and determining the data procedures used to acquire the Data

Collection and Data Analysis.

Research Design

The nature of this action research is quasi-experimental. The distinctive

feature of quasi-experimental design as a research methodology is what it does not

have. This is a suitable research design since it seeks to determine the effects of a

specific intervention—in this case, using the Homophone Game to improve students'

pronunciation skills. Additionally, this offers reliable and objective assessments of the

impact of the intervention, from which researchers can infer differences that may arise

if the intervention is implemented.

Moreover, a purposive sampling will be utilized to get the number of

respondents of the study. In purposive sampling the samplers of respondents are

selected on “purpose”. This technique in which the units of samples of this study are

selected and identified that can provide the best information to achieve the study’s

objectives (Nikolopoulou, 2022).

Participants/Source of Data and Information

The respondents of this study are the currently enrolled Grade 6 Rizal students

of Osmeña Elementary School in the School Year 2023-2024. The students who were

not enrolled and having a dropped status in this section will not be qualified as

respondents of the study.

Research Sampling

Sampling is the process of selecting a sample from a given a population. It

avoids biases that might arise if samples were selected based on the whims of the

researcher and provides the basis from calculating margin of error (Blay, 2018). This

research study employs purposive sampling in which the researchers rely on his or her

own judgment when choosing numbers of population to participate in the study.

Purposive sampling is a non-probability sampling method and it occurs when

elements selected for the sample are chosen by the judgment of the researcher.

The samples of the study will be done through selection, in which the

researchers has the freedom to choose a sample size that have the best suitable

characteristics to give in an in-depth and quality information about what researchers

are studying. The respondents will be the whole section of Grade 6 Rizal, since the

identified problem is occurring and noticeable among these pupils. Thus, no statistical

method of calculation is needed.

Research Locale

This action research will be conducted at Osmeña Elementary School located

at Purok 2 Osmeña, Compostela, Davao de Oro. This school was instituted going back

on May 3, 1962 and was originally founded under the first lieutenant Emeterio Pavia.
 When the aforementioned barangay lieutenant called his constituents together for a

barangay assembly and presented his main idea, the Parent Teacher Association

(PTA) of Osmeña was established. The elementary of Osmeña was now structured

modern with school buildings and facilities, standing with a great internal and

external foundation; exterior on the provincial road to New Bataan within the

Barangay site of Osmeña. Estimatedly, there is total of more or less 600 enrolled

students, and there are 19 teachers present in the elementary school.

The figure below shows map of Osmeña Elementary School.

 Figure 2. Location Map of Osmeña Elementary School

(Source: Google Maps)

Data Collection

The systematic process of accurately gathering information from multiple

sources to offer insights and solutions, such as testing a hypothesis or assessing a

result, is known as data collecting. The basic goal of data collecting is to collect

reliable data that can be examined and utilized as evidence or to support choices

(Egnyte, 2021).

The researchers will follow the procedures and methods upon gathering data

to ensure that the study’s guidelines are being followed to collect the necessary data.

First step, the researchers will send a letter containing a request of asking permission

from the Research Ethics Committee of Davao de Oro State College. This is to ensure

that the study’s conduct complies with the following moral standards, and with no

harm to the respondents. Second, the researcher will send a request letter asking

permission to the principal to conduct the study in their school. And third, the

researchers will inform the Cooperating Teacher and to formally ask permission that

they will be going to conduct a study on his/her students —which will be their

respondents. Moreover, during the conduct of the study, a short orientation will be
 conducted to the Grade 6 Rizal students. Any risk in participation in the study is

minimized and vulnerable respondents were ensured additional protection.

Intervention

In conducting, the researchers distribute the same test questionnaires to the

participants of the study. During the conduct, the researchers will introduce the

purpose and importance of conducting the test. The table below is the tool used by the

researchers to measure the level of pronunciation skills of the students before and

after the intervention.

Range Mean Description Interpretation

20.01 – 25.00 Very High This means that the level of student’s

pronunciation skills is very high.

15.01 – 20.00 High This means that the level of student’s

pronunciation skills is high.

10.01 – 15.00 Moderate This means that the level of student’s

pronunciation skills is moderate.

5.01 – 10.00 Low This means that the level of student’s

pronunciation skills is low.

0.00 – 5.00 Very Low This means that the level of student’s

pronunciation skills is very low.

Moreover, here are the steps on how the researchers will administer pre-test,

intervention, and post-test.

 Step 1: Pre-Intervention. The researchers will administer the pre-test to the

students. A pretest is a test given before the experimental treatment (Lodico et al

(2006). So, a pretest is done before the treatment process to know the level of

students’ pronunciation skills before they will be given an intervention. The

questionnaire is consist of a passage where the respondents must read to test how do

they pronounce such words.

Step 2: Intervention. In this step, the researchers will carry out the

intervention approach that they will be utilized in this study. They will schedule twice

a week for three weeks, a time for discussion utilizing Pictionary Game during the

students’ ancillary service, this session consumes 30-45 minutes depending on the

agreement between the teacher of the respondents and the researchers. The

researchers will gather the participants of the study in a classroom and begin the class

session throughout the time. The researchers will be guided through their validated

lesson plan for the weekly session and will use the format from the institution of

participants. The session will be composed of lectures and activities or motivation to

maintain the attention and focus of the students. The intervention process will take 3

weeks to be accomplished, the first week will focus on the Sound, the second week

will be on the Stress, and the last week will be Intonation.

Step 3: Post Intervention. Post-test was held after all treatments were conducted. A

posttest is a measure of some attribute or characteristic that is assessed for participants in an

experiment after a treatment (Creswell, 2008). Parallel test will be given to the participants

which will be the post-test. As the six-day intervention process has already been completed

by the respondents. This time, the researchers will evaluate the students' level of

pronunciation skills using the post-test. The posttest is done to see the final score and to know

the difference between the students’ score before and after the treatment is applied. Same
instrument with the pre-test is being used. After all, the researchers will keep records of every

one of the test results for the statistician to evaluate.

Data Analysis

The statistician will use the descriptive statistics — specifically Mean,

Standard Deviation, and Paired T-test to analyze the data and test the level of

students’ pronunciation skills.

Mean - the mean is calculated by dividing the total number of values in a data set by the sum

of the numbers in the data set. The average is another name for the mean. The mean can be

used to provide a broad overview or overall impression of the data set. For a data collection

with closely spaced numbers, mean is the most appropriate choice.

Standard Deviation – is a statistic that measures the dispersion of a dataset relative to its

mean and is calculated as the square root of the variance. The standard deviation is calculated

as the square root of variance by determining each data point’s deviation relative to the mean.

Paired T-test – is a statistical procedure used to determine whether the mean difference

between two sets of observations is zero. In a paired sample t-test, each subject or entity is

measured twice, resulting in pairs of observation.

Ethical Consideration

The researchers conducted the study in compliance with ethical standards by

adhering to the investigation's rules and other restrictions, including the study

protocol. Important school officials and the municipal authorities in the area where

the study is to be conducted were assiduously sought for and granted permission for

the study's conduct by the researcher. The respondents in the study's sample provided
 their informed consent and received guarantees that all of their rights would be fully

upheld, especially with regard to the management of data like:

Voluntary Participation

The respondents’ involvement in this study was entirely voluntary. The students were

given an Informed Consent Form that explained the research’s goal. The Informed Consent

Form served as documentation of their willingness to participate in the study as volunteers.

Furthermore, the respondents were informed of the nature and aim of the data collection, as

well as the risks and protections associated, implying that personal data processing

information should be freely accessible and understandable using language and sentences

within the subjects’ grasp. Only those data were acquired that relates to the study’s declared

and described purpose. As a result, subjects are free to withdraw their consent at any time and

stop participating in the study.

Privacy and Confidentiality

During the conscription phase, the respondents were informed of the major goal of

their involvement in the study, as indicated in the previous paragraphs. Personal information

was obtained as part of the surveys, which included collecting basic demographic profiles

(sex and age), as well as the grade and section they are currently enrolled in. The information

acquired was exclusively for research purposes and was not utilized for commercial gain in

any way. As a result, personal data processing was permitted, according to the standards of

transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality. This indicates that the respondents

were aware of the study’s purpose, and that data processing must be tied to a stated goal. This

indicates that the respondents were aware of the study’s objective, that data processing should

be tied to a stated purpose and not in violation of moral laws, and that data processing should

be appropriate and not excessive in proportion to the stated purpose.

Vulnerability
 The participants of this study were offered protection from risks and vulnerable

subjects that require additional protection. The students during the conduct of the study were

voluntarily recruited for participation with a complete informed consent. The subjects were

also given an orientation of the study beforehand to guide their decision to participate

voluntarily. Apart from being not being vulnerable, students also potentially benefit in

gaining better learning experiences and an avenue to express themselves as learners in the

study.

Falsification

The researcher carefully examined the potential misinterpretation and analysis with

the help of assigned statistician and grammarian to maintain the integrity and avoid any form

of biases such as changing the data to meet desired expectation of the study.

Deceit

The study ensured that the students were aware and informed of the purpose of

the study. To avoid misinformation, the researchers provided a brief introduction to

the survey questionnaire, informing them of the title, purpose, and their rights as study

participants.

Risks

During the conduct of the study, the participants might feel discomfort in the

gathering the data. Thus, the researcher was sensitive of the feelings of the students by

ensuring them that all questions, queries were answered privately which means that they can

message the researchers privately. The learners were not forced in any way that might violate

their well-being.

Inclusion Criteria
 The participants required on this study should be a Grade 6 Rizal students of Osmeña

Elementary School, currently enrolled for school year 2023 – 2024.

Exclusion Criteria

The students who were from another grade or section nor have a status of dropped in

the school year 2023 - 2024 were not qualified to be the respondents of the study.

Conflict of Interest

There were no conflicts of interest in this study, such as any disclosure of COI, which

is a set of conditions that allows professional judgment about primary interests such as

participants’ welfare or research validity to be influenced by secondary interest such as

academic or financial gains and expectations.

Community Considerations

During the school day, this study was carried out on the Osmeña Elementary School:

To avoid conflict with other classes, the intervention is carried out during free time by the

researchers and of the students, specifically, during their ancillary service period.

Potential Benefits

The research respondents who participate in this study will be beneficial as this would

help them unfold the possible effectiveness of the implementation of Homophone Game in

enhancing students’ pronunciation skills.

The cooperating school, Osmeña Elementary School would also benefit from this

study as this could be a basis for future plans and programs that would help alleviate the level

of pronunciation skills of students for better teaching and learning experience.

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